Moving frame track correction machine

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a correction device for railway track lifting and preferably also for track aligning in which track engaging clamps are mounted on the tamping head carrying frame of a track tamping machine. The tamping head carrying frame forms part of a correcting frame which is mounted on a base frame, track lifting jacks and track slewing jacks being positioned on the device for lifting and slewing the track at the point where it is engaged by the clamps.

United States Patent John Kenneth Stewart Columbia, S.C. 855,590

Sept. 5, 1969 Aug. 31, 1971 Tamper Inc. Columbia, S.C.

Inventor App]. No. Filed Patented Assignee MOVING FRAME TRACK CORRECTIONMACHINE 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 104/711 Int. Cl. E0lb 32/02 Field of Search 104/7, 78,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1964 Plasser et a1 104/73,338,174 8/1967 Oville 104/8 3,381,625 5/1968 Plasser et a1. .4 104/73,417,708 12/1968 Sauterel l 104/8 Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La PointAssistant Examiner-Richard A. Berts ch Attorney-Smart & Biggar ABSTRACT:This invention relates to a correction device for railway track liltingand preferably also for track aligning in which track engaging clampsare mounted on the tamping head carrying frame of a track tampingmachine. The tamping head carrying frame forms part of a correctingframe which is mounted on a base frame, track lifting; jacks and trackslewing jacks being positioned on the device for lifting and slewing thetrack at the point where it is engaged by the clamps.

SHEH 1 0F 3 PATENTED AUB3I IE7:

INVENTOR JOHN K. STEWART SMART a Bm ATTORNEYS PATENTEDAUBBHHYI 3502MBSHEET 3 BF 3 INVENTOR F H JOHN K, STEWART SMART 81 BIGGAR ATTORNEYSMOVING FRAME TlhA Cllf CORRECTION MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to track correcting devices and particularly to atrack lifting device. In a preferred construction the inventionadditionally relates to a track aligning device.

In the past devices have been proposed where a tamping machine has beenprovided with outside jaclts which descend onto the shoulders of theballast on either side of the track and, by means of rail engagingclamps, lift and align the track.

Also proposals have been made where track lifting and aligning jackshave been positioned on an overhang in front of a tamping machine tolift and align the track. It has been the goal of track maintenanceequipment manufacturers to cor root the track and tamp it as closely aspossible to the point of correction. Different configurations of tampingmachines have been made with this end in view.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a railway track correcting device which permits a trackcorrection operation in the immediate vicinity of the tamping heads suchthat advantage may be taken of the known phenomena of fluidization ofthe ballast by the vibrating action of the tamping heads.

According to the present invention there is provided a railway trackcorrecting device comprising base frame means mounted on a front end anda rear pair of wheels for track travel; correcting frame means pivotallymounted on the base frame means behind the front pair of wheel andcarrying rail engaging clamps at a front end thereof overhanging saidbase frame means; traclt tamping elements on said front end; tracklifting jacks located between the clamps and the point of pivot andadapted to react against the track and upwardly pivot the overhangingportion of said correcting frame means relatively to said base framemeans to lift the track at the point where it is engaged by said clamps.Preferably a lining jack means is provided for slewing the correctingframe means transversely relatively to the base frame means to align thetrack at the point where it is engaged by said clamps.

In one embodiment of the present invention the base frame includes shoeswhich operatively engage the periphery of each of the front pair ofwheels, the track lifting jacks reacting against the shoes.

In an alternative embodiment the track lifting jacks are mounted beneaththe correcting frame means with the lower end thereof mounted on a dollywhich carries rail engaging wheels.

The correcting frame may be in two sections, a first section which ispivoted at the base frame and which carries a second section which inturn carries the rail engaging clamps and the tamping heads. The raillifting jack means is operative to lift the first section with thesecond section thereon and the traclt slewing jack means is interposedbetween either the second section and the first section or the secondsection and the base frame means, in order to pivot the second sectionrelative to the first section to slew the track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following is a description by wayof example, of certain embodiments of the present invention, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings in which,

FIG. ll diagrammatically shows an embodiment of the invention utilizingthe axles of the device as part of a base frame;

FIG. 2 is'a view of an alternative device similar to FIG. l but with thealigning operation taking place at the rear. instead of the front axle;

FIG. 3 is an alternative construction in whicha full base frame isprovided;

FIG. t is a construction in which the correcting frame is shown in twosections;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic detail of the mounting of the tamping heads;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic detail of an alternative system of tracklifting jack; and

FIG. 7 is a detail of a clamp.

DESCEtll-"IIUN OF THE FREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. ii, arailway track correcting device W comprises a base frame means llllmounted on a front pair 12 and a rear pair 113 of track engaging wheelsand a correct ing frame 15. The base frame llll includes the front andrear axles i7 and Id which carry the pairs of wheels iii and 113, theupstanding lugs 2 0 and the shoes 22 which can be operated to engagewith the periphery of each of the front pair of wheels 12. A pair oftrack lifting jacks .245 are universally connected at their lower endsto the shoes 22 and are pivoted at their upper ends 26 to the correctingframe 15 such that when they are extended the jacks 24 force the shoesof the base member M against the wheels 12 and cause the verticalpivoting of the frame l5 about the rear axle Iii. To permit such pivotalmovement the guide and bearing block arrangements 2% at the rear axlesare formed with freedom adequate to permit the vertical pivoting. Atransversely extending jack means 36 is connected between the lugs 20and is attached with required lost motion in the housing 32 of thecorrecting frame 15. Operation of the jack 36) against the base framellll slows the correcting frame l5 transversely of the track. Animaginery pivot point 34 is shown at the rear of the correcting frame15, although in practice the bearing blocks 28 or the rear axle IE willbe formed with adequate freedom to allow for the transverse motion atthe clamps as well as the vertical pivoting motion.

At the front end of the frame 15, and integral therewith, are a pair oftamping head carrying frames-35. These tamping frames 35 carry tampingheads 38 for reciprocal motion thereon in well-known fashion (as is bestseen in FIG. 5). Mounted beneath the frames 35 are rail engaging clamps,diagrammatically shown at 40. A biasing device (not shown), to bias thebase frame against the rail which is chosen as the grade rail, isprovided in a fashion usual amongst lining devices.

The device may be utilized with any suitable wire or light surfacing andlining system in known fashion. In FIG. 3 there are shown, for example,surfacing shadow boards 412a and 42b for operation respectively with tworeceivers Mia and Mb which may be arranged to receive twin beams from apair of remote infrared beam transmitters on a remote satellite car inusual fashion. A lining shadow hoard 4.3 cooperates with a liningreceiver M: which functions, in ltnown fashion, with a remote lighttransmitter for the purposes of providing a lining reference.

It is to he understood, of course, that FIG. I is for the purposes ofillustrating the principle of the invention only and many necessaryitems known to those skilled in the art, for example, mile blocks forthe front wheels i2, have been omitted for the sake of clarity.

In the device according to FIG. 2 (which is again a very diagrammaticsection) the arrangement is similar to that shown in FIG. I with liftingjacks 22% operating against shoes 222 on front wheels 212 but thealigning jacit 23% operates against lugs 22d of the base frame 2M on therear axle 21%. The correcting frame 2115 is pivoted at 228 in bearingsabout the cylinder 23%. Again tamping and rail engaging clarnp carryingframes 235 are formed integrally with correcting frame 215. An imaginarypivot point 234 is shown above the front axle which acts as the centerof-pivot. in practice, as the cylinder 230 is operated the frame 215 isslewed over, skewing the front'wheels 212 within the limits of theirfreedom to force the I track where it is clamped'into the alignedposition.

In FIG. 3 the base frame MI is a full chassis frame carrying front andrear sets of wheels 312, 313 in axle blocks 32h. Again the correctingframe 315 is'lifted by lifting jacks 324 which actagainst shoes 322 onthe front wheels 312. Similarly also, the correcting frame 315 carriestamping and rail engaging jack frames 355 which overhang the base frameat the front thereof and are formed integral with, and form part of, thecorrecting frame 315. Here, as with FIG. 2, the aligning jack 330 isadjacent the rear of the base frame 311 and reacts against lugs 320 onthe base frame 311, the correcting frame 315 being pivotally mounted inbearings 328 surrounding the cylinder 330. Operation is as before.

In FIG. 4 the situation is--in all respects similar to FIG. 3 exceptthat the correcting frame 415 is arranged in two sections, a firstsection 415a and a second section 415b. The first section 415a ismounted for pivotal movement in the vertical plane on a bearing 428adjacent the rear end of the base frame 411, upward pivotal action beingapplied to the section 415a through the lifting jacks 424 which engagethe shoes 422. The first section 415a carries a lifting member or shelf416 at the front end thereof. The second section 4l5b rests on the shelf416 within the first section 415a. The transversely aligning jack 430 isattached to the section 4l5b and reacts against the section 415a totransversely slew the section 41512, (almost a central pivot post 416which stands upwardly from the base frame 411, conveniently in thevicinity of the front axle) on the shelf 460 relative to the firstsection 415a and to the base frame 411 to align the track at the pointwhere the clamps grasp it. Although the jack 430 is shown operatingagainst the first section 415a it is to be understood that the jack 430could equally well operate against the base frame 41 1.

Although in the foregoing figures the vertical lifting of the track hasbeen shown to be effected by the operation of the jack 24 against theshoe 22 to transfer the lifting reactions to the track through thewheels 12, the jack 24 and shoes 22 can, if desired, be replaced byjacks 624, as seen in FIG. 6, which would be connected at the upper endto correcting frame 615 and would carry at their lower end dollies 661having track engaging wheels 662. As with the jacks 24, the jack 624would be positioned between the front clamps and the pivot point toprovide the lifting advantages of a lever.

FIG. 7 shows a detail of one of the clamps 40. Each clamp comprises anoutside hook member 740 fixed to the under side of the frame 35, havingan operating link 741 connected to a hydraulic piston and cylinderarrangement 742 for closing the hook against the rail in known fashion;and a roller 743, which may be offset somewhat longitudinally of thetrack relative to the hook 740. Each roller has a flange 745 which, inthe case of one of the rails, is biased against the grade rail by afurther hydraulic piston and cylinder arrangement (the biasing devicenot shown) and which, in the case of the other rail, rides somewhatloosely off the ball of the rail. So far as this other rail isconcerned, the clamping action of its related hook will tend to forcethe other rail into contact with the flange of its roller. The roller,of course, is rigid with the frame 35 and thus a solid clamping of eachrail is achieved. This arrangement has the advantage that part of eachclamp 40 is in rolling contact with the head of the rail at all times.

The dimensions of the device may advantageously be chosen, together withthe position of the force-exerting members, such that there may be apreferred, say equal, distribution of the force applied to the track bythe wheels.

It will, of course be understood that yet a further type of cylinder,similar to the cylinder 624 but with track engaging pads rather thandolly wheels, could be utilized to obtain a braking effect on thevehicle while jacking.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A railway track correcting device comprising base frame means mountedon a front and a rear pair of wheels for track travel; correcting framemeans pivotally mounted on the base frame means behind the front pair ofwheels and carrying rail engaging clamps at a front section thereofwhich overhangs the leading end of said base frame means; track tampingelements on said front section; track lifting jacks on the deviceadapted to react against the track between the clamps and the point ofpivot and upwardly pivot the correcting frame means relative to saidbase frame means and track aligning jack means for slewing thecorrecting frame means transversely relatively to the base frame meanswhereby to lift and horizontally align the track at the point where itis engaged by said clamps.

2. A railway track lifting and lining device as claimed in claim 1, inwhich the base frame includes'shoes which operatively engage theperiphery of each of the front pair of wheels, said track lifting jacksreacting against the shoes.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the track lifting jack meansis mounted beneath the correcting frame means with the lower end thereofmounted on dolly means carrying rail engaging wheels.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the track aligning jack meansis interposed between said base frame means and said correcting framemeans.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which said correcting frame meanscomprises a first section pivotally connected to said base frame meansat a point adjacent the rear end thereof, and having lifting elementsmounted thereon; and a second section mounted on said first section andlifted thereby on operation of said track lifting jacks and pivoted onsaid base frame for transverse movement; said track aligning jack meansbeing interposed between said first and second sections and adapted totransversely slew said second section relative to said first section.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which one rail engaging clamp isprovided for each rail, each rail engaging lamp comprising a hook memberand an opposed roller member 7. A device as claimed in claim 6 in whichthe roller member runs on the inside of the track and has a flange forengaging the inner edge of the ball of the rail, the hook memberengaging the outside of the rail at a point longitudinally spaced alongthe track from the roller. where P and P are normalizing factors and Tis a specific instant of time t, of the cardiographic signal beingtransformed.

1. A railway track correcting device comprising base frame means mountedon a front and a rear pair of wheels for track travel; correcting framemeans pivotally mounted on the base frame means behind the front pair ofwheels and carrying rail engaging clamps at a front section thereofwhich overhangs the leading end of said base frame means; track tampingelements on said front section; track lifting jacks on the deviceadapted to react against the track between the clamps and the point ofpivot and upwardly pivot the correcting frame means relative to saidbase frame means, and track aligning jack means for slewing thecorrecting frame means transversely relatively to the base frame meanswhereby to lift and horizontally align the track at the point where itis engaged by said clamps.
 2. A railway track lifting and lining deviceas claimed in claim 1, in which the base frame includes shoes whichoperatively engage the periphery of each of the front pair of wheels,said track lifting jacks reacting against the shoes.
 3. A device asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the track lifting jack means is mountedbeneath the correcting frame means with the lower end thereof mounted ondolly means carrying rail engaging wheels.
 4. A device as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the track aligning jack means is interposed between saidbase frame means and said correcting frame means.
 5. A device as claimedin claim 1 in which said correcting frame means comprises a firstsection pivotally connected to said base frame means at a point adjacentthe rear end thereof, and having lifting elements mounted thereon; and asecond section mounted on said first section and lifted thereby onoperation of said track lifting jacks and pivoted on said base frame fortransverse movement; said track aligning jack means being interposedbetween said first and second sections and adapted to transversely slewsaid second section relative to said first section.
 6. A device asclaimed in claim 1 in which one rail engaging clamp is provided for eachrail, each rail engaging lamp comprising a hook member and an opposedroller member.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 6 in which the rollermember runs on the inside of the track and has a flange for engaging theinner edge of the ball of the rail, the hook member engaging the outsideof the rail at a point longitudinally spaced along the track from theroller. where P1 and P2 are normalizing factors and T is a specificinstant of time t, of the cardiographic signal being transformed.